Diseased Seedlings (With images)

Hi there all, this is my first post.

I am a gardener of 20 years experience and always grow my annuals from seed. I have never had a failure before, using a variety of purchased compost form garden centres. I currently use HUMAX to sow and raise all my seedlings.

To cut a long story short, I purchased some J Arthur Bowers Compost (The Which best buy variety - bought from wyevale :-( ) to use alongside my existing HUMAX. It's a sad story as to why I purchased the Bowers so I won't get into that.

Well, I spent 2 days pricking out and potting up my seedlings. I used up my HUMAX first then went onto the Bowers. After 1 day ALL my freshly pricked out seedlings, that went into the Bowers , were very sickly (Please see images below). The seedlings in the HUMAX were and still are in a fabulous condition.

I am currently having my compost samples investigated by Bowers. I am awaiting results of their findings. The Bowers compost smelt dreadful, it really did take my breath away.

I am showing some photos below of the typical way the plants died off. I am hoping that somebody here may be able to recognize this symptom. As you can see, there is a whitening of the inner leaves. The day after these images were taken, the plants were overrun.

Any input would be most welcome.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

Sorry to hear about your seedlings, no idea whats caused it though.

 

Thanks for the replies guys ! Yes I strongly suspect the Bowers has a real major issue. I am due to get the lab results back from Bowers any day now. I will, of course, add their findings to this posting.

JWK, what do you think of the bottom image and the actual composition of the compost ? I have no idea why i used this as it looks totally unsuitable for the job !

 

Just enlarged the photo, looks more like composted bark mulch than compost.

 

I have only used Bowers for years (only because that's what my local garden centre sells and its "convenient"). I get some variability (particularly between batches sold in the Spring, which are often very wet (either from being stacked and rained on, or because the raw materials from which it is made are naturally soggy at that time of year), and those in the Autumn which I much prefer, and as far as I can I stock up in the Autumn.

The compost in your pictures looks quite wet? I wonder if the Bowers retains water more than your Humax did, and thus the seedlings are too soggy?

I mix 10% (by volume) Perlite with it because I have found, over the last few years, that the drainage has not been good enough (can't remember if it used to be better, or if I have just come to the realisation that seedlings grow better with sharper drainage). I don't bother for, say, Tomatoes that grow away vigorously, but for any small seedlings, and quite a lot of plants that I pot on, I find it makes a difference.

 

Hi Kristen

Many thanks for your superb reply, very informative.

I am quite sure the reason why that compost looks so wet is that I watered the seedlings in well the previous day. The actual compost, when first used was damp and not wet.I actually still have a bag of it left, un-opened.

I have used Bowers in the past, i'm talking a good few years ago here and have never had any issues prior to this time round.

Thanks again for your super input !

 

Welcome to GC EssexMan...Sorry about the seedlings..it will be interesting to hear of the findings....
I've always used JAB growbags for planting my tomatoes but i have noticed this year that every time i opened one the smell was very strong of 'neat' manure....never noticed it before it even looked like it but just thought it was my fancy......so far all is well...but this is an interesting thread that i'll keep a watch on

 

Welcome to the forum, EssexMan99, how infuriating. Good job you had another set for comparison or you might have thought it was some sort of disease or something you'd dosne wrong.
Was it peat-free? It doesn't look like it, but I have found peat-free to often have a bad smell, be coarse and bitty and not to drain well. As Kristen says, adding sand/perlite helps the texture no end.

 

This seems to be a widespread problem everywhere, since the peat content of most composts has been reduced. I had a similar experience when potting on big established Nerium oleanders. Within days they started to turn yellow and look very sickly.
If you read the composition labels carefully, most composts, even supposedly peat-based ones, contain a high proportion of unspecified 'organic matter' That could mean anything....

 

Results just came in from the lab, and they can find nothing obviously wrong. :(
I simply can't accept that this *compost* did not have an adverse effect on my plants. If I buy a compost that is specifically formulated for seedlings and potting on plants then I expect to use the mixture *as is*, with no additional material.


These are screen shots of the results (I will also try to upload the PDF file if anyone's interested) :-

 

Strange how the problem, whatever it might be, appears to be attacking the older leaves first.
Sounds stupid, but could it be scorch?
Wet leaves in full sun.

The texture of the compost does look awful, and although I also often add other substances to multi purpose, like many others do, it shouldn't be a priority, as it says its muti-purpose, it should work on its own, regardless.

Got to admit I've never even heard of Humax

 

Hi Pete

The fact is, I potted the same plants in both HUMAX and Bowers. If it was scorch I would have thought it would have affected the seedlings in both mediums. All plants were watered in the exact same manner. The seedlings in my HUMAX really are looking great, all of them actually.

Thanks for the reply

ps HUMAX is lovely stuff. Take a look here :-

 

Have the seedlings totally died now?
Were all seedlings placed in similar spots in the greenhouse?
Were all seedlings of the same type?

 

Hi Pete

Yes, I lost approx 750 plants, including my tomato seedlings in the Bowers. Ive never failed with maters before. My maters in HUMAX though, are thriving.

The seedlings were pricked out into 2 greenhouses. Both HUMAX and Bowers used in both locations. Greenhouses were smoke bombed to kill bugs the previous winter. All pots used to plant were brand new apart from the maters. Those pots were cleaned thoroughly.

I grew Impatiens (doubles), Ageratum (2 varieties), Lobelia (2 varieties), Asters (3 varieties), Petunias, Antirhinum (3 varieties) Messies.

I have used this same process for 20 years now and it has never let me down in the past.

These are my wilting mater seedlings the day after I pricked them out :-